Long overdue. Well deserved.
This is his 11th tour, and until this year he has been the right hand man of one Lance Armstrong. He was literally the engine room for US Postal and then Discovery, and he did the lion's share of the hard work year after year after year to tire out Lance's rivals, disrupt the other team's tactics, and put Lance in the best possible position to win. As such his efforts were never widely appreciated outside of serious cycling circles.
Several times during Lance's run, Hincapie could have left US Postal and Discovery to become the main main on another team, like so many other US Postal riders did. But he always chose to stay and be part of the best team in cycling. Last year he won stage 15 of the Tour de France, his first TDF stage win of his career. And yesterday he put on the maillot jaune for the first time. He is finally starting to receive the recognition he deserves, and I hope that he continues to do well.
Last year he finished 14th in the Tour, but he was not riding to win but sacrificing himself to do whatever he could to help Lance win. Hopefully he can make a serious run at the podium this year; that would be a sweet reward for all of his years of hard work that went largely unnoticed.
He's kind of like Pippen to Lance's Jordan; a great player who will always be underappreciated and overlooked by a true giant of the sport. Unlike Pippin, he is an unselfish team player and supposedly a very nice guy. Apparently he is one of Lance's very best friends, so I am sure that Lance himself would like nothing more than for George to make a run at winning the Tour this year.
Allez George!
No comments:
Post a Comment